Flour-dressing machine



(No Moda.) 2 sheets-sheet 1. L. W. PRUSS.

FLOR DRESSING MACHINE.

Patented Jan. 30, 1883.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. L. W. PRUSS.

PLOUR DRESSING MACHINE. I

Patented Jan. 30, 1883.

` IINITED STATES LOUIS IV. PRUSS, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

FLOLUR-DRESSING` MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part'of Letters Patent No. 271,361, dated January30, 1883. Application filed August 18, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: 4

Beit known that 1, L. W. PRUss, o f Minneapolis, in the county ofHennepin and State of Minnesota. have invented certain Improvements inFlour-Dressing Machines, of which the following is a 'speciticatioinThis invention relates to that class-of Hourdressing or bran-dustingmachines wherein a cylindrical or polygonal reel is combined withinternal rotary beaters or blades to agitate the material and throw thesame outward against the bolting-suri'ace ofthe reel.

The invention consists in combining with said machine afan or fansarranged upon the beatershaft and adapted to produce a draft or currentof 4air through the reel from the tail toward the head. In machines ofthis type as ordinarily constructed a d-ralt of greater or less strengthpasses through the reel from the head toward the tail, or in the samedirection as that in which the material flows through the machine, theeffect of which draft is to carry therewith a considerable percentageot' line ilour which passes out ofthe machine with the tailings, insteadof going through the gauze of the dressing-cylinder. rIhis wastage,which it is the object of my invention to overcome, is completelyremedied by means ofthe draft or v,current ot' air passing through thereel in the opposite direction from that in which the material iscarried.

In applying my invention I prefer ordinarily to make use of rotary fansconsisting of metallic sheets provided with radial perforations andoblique blades, and to mount these arranged to travel in close proximityto the surface of the reel for the purpose of acting upon the bran andretarding its motion through the reel. These devices are not'to beconfounded or associated with the rotary fan employed in my machine, theobject and mode ot' action in the two cases being widely ditt'erent.

| Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents alongitudinal vertical section through the center of a flour-dressingmachine provided with my improvements. Fig. 2 is a verticalcross-section ot' the same, various parts of ordinary construction whichhave no relation to the present improvements being omitted in bothfigures.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the external case or chest, andB the slightly-inclined reel, mounted lengthwise within the body,usually arranged to revolve therein.

C represents the revolving blades or beaters carried by radial arms a,connected by central hubs, b, to a central rapidly-revolving shaft, D.

The above parts may be of ordinary or suitable construction audconnected with suitable driving mechanism. which will canse the heatersC to revolve rapidly within the reel at a short distance from its innersurface.

E E represent the fans constituting the subject-matter of the presentinvention. The drawings represent six of these fans distributed atuniform distances apart within the reel, being mounted upon the centralbeatershaft, D, and inside of the beater arms or blades O. Each fanconsists of a circular sheet or disk of metal provided with numerousradial slots or openings, c, formed by cutting the metal loose on twosides andbending the same outward obliquely from the face of the disk,so as to form fan-blades d, the surfaces of which stand obliquely inrelation to the plane of rotation. The outer ends of the fan-blades arepreferably connected to the fans ofthe disk by means of thin metalblades c, soldered or otherwise secured thereto, as shown, these platesserving to hold the blades firmly in position, as well as to prevent airfrom being carried outward radially from the ends of the blades. Thefans which are'adjacent to the hubs of the beaters may be attached tosaid hubs, as shown, while those fans which occupy intermediate orcentral positions will be attached to special hubs or collars' securedupon the shaft by setscrews, as shown, or in any other suitable manner.

It will be observed that the fans constructed as above do not approachclosely to the bolting-surface, and do not interfere with the motion ofthe heavy material longitudinally ICO through the machine in contactwith the bolting-surface. Inasmuch, however, as the rotary shaft isdriven at a high speed, the fans produce a blast or current of air ofconsiderable strength through the machine from the tail to the head ofthe reel, this blast being sufficient to retard the ue our until it indsits way through the bolting-surface, without, on the other hand,interfering with the ow of the heavy material. In short, the machineprovided with the improvementoperates in all respects in the ordinarymanner, with the exception that a light draft of air passes through thereel from the tail to the head.

As before stated,the fans may be constructed and attached in anysuitabie manner, provided only that they serve to lproduce a draftthrough the machine in thedirection indicated without interfering withthe ordinary fuuctions of the beaters or the usual passage of the coarsematerial through the machine.

The present invention is restricted to the application of the fans, asherein set forth, various other details represented in the drawingsconstituting the subject-matter of another and prior application filedin'my name for a patent.

Having thus described my invention, what I lclaim is 1. In adeur-dressing or bran-dusting ma-A chine, the combination of a reel,internal revolving blades or beaters. moving adjacent'to the surface ofsaid reel, and` central rapidlyrevolving fans, as described, to producea current of air through the reel from the tail toward the head.

, 2. In a flour-drcssing-machine, an external bolting or dressing reel,in combination-With central rapidly-revolving fans adapted to produce adraft through the machine from the tail to the head, and blades orbeaters rotating be-

